Self-adjusting thermostat for floor warming control systems and other applications

Abstract

A method of controlling the temperature of an environment, includes the steps of providing a thermostat and receiving a signal from an occupancy sensor indicating whether an area has been occupied for each discrete time period of a 24 hour time period, assigning a first point value to each discrete time period where occupancy has been sensed, and repeating the steps for the next two 24 hour periods, and averaging the point values for each discrete time period in the first, second, and third 24 hour periods, to obtain an average point value, and sending a first signal to a heating device adapted for heating a second area to provide a temperature-related setting for a given discrete time period when the average point value for that discrete time period is above a threshold point value.

Description

technical field [0001] This patent application relates to thermostats for controlling the temperature in an environment. In particular, this patent application relates to self-adjusting thermostats for use in floor heating control systems and other applications. [0002] related application [0003] This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application (Serial No. 61 / 476,085), filed April 15, 2011, entitled "Self-Adjusting Thermostat for Floor Warming Control Systems and Other Applications," which claims 2012 Priority to U.S. Application Serial No. 13 / 445,704, filed April 12, entitled "Self-Adjusting Thermostat for Floor Warming Control Systems and Other Applications," which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety , as fully described in this article. Background technique [0004] Thermostats are widely recognized as useful for controlling the temperature of rooms, ovens, pipes, floors, and the like. These devices have been provided w...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, the difficulty is that in practical experience very few of these units are ever used in "programmable" mode, most users simply put them into "manual" mode and leave them in that mode , so that the thermostat always controls the floor temperature at the same level instead of disconnecting the cable during periods when the room is not occupied

For this reason, it is believed that thermostats are too time consuming and / or too complicated to "program" for the average user

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